Nobody really knows how this all will end.  Nobody really knows what the ultimate effect on the endurance of donors and nonprofits will be. However, everybody–whether they admit it or not–is scared; some are even freaked-out..

What’s the pandemic’s effect on giving? If bad, how bad? Which organizations are helped; which harmed?  Who’s most likely to cut –or increase –their giving?  Does donor age matter?   What to do? When? How often? With what messages?  So many questions. So many questions.

And…so many answers. fundraisers across the sector have  responded in Tweets, blogs,  webinars and white papers  with  tons of generously offered answers. The variety  and choice of answers to these questions would put Starbucks to shame.

We’ll continue to share insights, answers and even some conjecture we consider helpful. However, it’s best to remember that in the end the only fundraising vaccine in this pandemic is data.

Early Surveys

Surveys on donor sentiment and organizational sentiment in the pandemic are beginning to be published.  Today we’re sharing the results of one in the U.S. and one in the U.K.

U.S.

Last week the BBB Wise Giving Alliance through its website Give.org released a survey measuring the sentiment of both donors and charities as the coronavirus pandemic cranks up. The survey involved 118 BBB Accredited Charities and more than 1,000 U.S. adults.

Here are the key findings:

Charities’ Sentiment

• 80% of charities anticipate their 2020 revenue will be lower than expected;
• 89.4% are concerned about maintaining a financially stable organization in 2020;
• 93.5% believe that donors will be less able to give;
• 69.6% believe charities will be less able to host fundraising events
• 54.4% believe donors will redirect their support to individuals in need

Individuals’ Sentiment

• 52.5% say they expect to give about the same as before the virus hit;
• 30.8 say they plan to give more
• 47.7% of Millenials and 60.8% of GenZers surveyed say they plan to give more..
• 23.9% say they plan to directly or thru crowdsourcing give money to small businesses;
• 24.5% say they will look for ways to help unemployed individuals directly.

You can download a fee copy of the report here. And you might want to click on the infographic below for some graphic detail of the survey’s results.

Click on Image for Entire Infographic

Agitator Comment:  Clearly, there’s quite some daylight between what the charitable organizations believe will happen and what individuals say they intend to do.  Part or all of this gap will be closed– or not– by the charities’ skill and willingness to seize on the empathy and generosity of donors who are signaling they intend to rise to the challenge.

U.K.

The folks at the UK consultancy About Loyalty have created the Covid-19 Sentiment Tracker to help UK charities quickly learn how the pandemic is affecting attitudes, impacting giving, and how and when changes occur. Using a national representative sample of 2500 they surveyed each week and will do so for four weeks.  A full report is issued every Tuesday.

Special Notice to Agitator Readers:  On Thursday, April 16 at 10:00 a.m BST About Loyalty will host a FREE WEBINAR: How COVID-19 is changing charitable giving. They’ll bring you up to date on current results of the Sentiment Tracker and share insights and case histories.  REGISTER FREE HERE.

Here’s a summary  from the first week’s COVID-19 Sentiment Tracker titled: Shocked and a little bit excited.

• 33% of respondents believe that COVID-19 is hardest challenge they’ve ever had to face.
• There is real fear for the National Health Service and for friends and families..for UK and global economies..and for their own finances.
• 30% say they intend to stop or reduce their donations,

Click on Image for Full Summary

• Risk that for charities unable to directly help those affected by the crisis, that 30% of supporters could choose to reduce or entirely stop their financial support.

 HOWEVER..

• 56% do not intend to make any changes in the charities they support, although this may change.
• Older donors are less likely to change their support as a result of COVID-19
• More than 50% of young people under 35 said they would reduce or stop supporting an existing charity if it was not directly helping people affected by the virus.
• All age groups cited elderly and health charities as the highest in terms of importance as compared with before the virus.

See the complete summary for more detail on age and sector breakdowns. And don’t forget to REGISTER FREE RIGHT HERE.for the COVID-19 Webinar.

Roger

P.S. Speaking of COVID-19, the virus is already having devastating effects on monthly giving.  The UK alone reports that cancellation rates for monthly giving in the UK in March were up 41% compared to March a year ago.

So, while we mentioning webinars you may also want to attend the DonorVoice webinar on Reducing Monthly Giving Cancellations to be held on Thursday, April 16th –but at a different time from the Sentiment Tacking webinar mention above.  You can REGISTER FREE for the DonorVoice Webinar here. 

A good time to go wild with great webinars.